Both Dot and I overslept this morning so did not go to church.  We could have gone to the 10 am service, but I said I didn't want to go to that one; I don't know if Dot went alone or not. 

We had a lot of snow overnight and Tom was out in it - driving for Uber - and he went out again this morning.

Larry, I have arthritis and rotator cuff probnlems with my right shoulder and my handwriting has deteriorated since.  I find I do more printing than writing, but I could never write a full page letter as I used to do BC (before computers).  I even have trouble signing my name in one motion and I used to have a sprawling signature; no more!

Mary Ann

Goodmorning everyone.

We got a light dusting here this morning with a bit more tonight. Not sure, now, if we are getting any of the freezing rain they were prediciting on last nights' weather forecast. That is a good thing, because I forgot to pick up some de-icer for the sidewalk when I was out yesterday. I have a wee bit left from last year so I don't need to make an extra trip for it today.

Good morning from the Interior. Farrah has moved from trying to converse with me to scolding me. I am simply not living up to her expectations and its all in her tone of voice! 

Larry, my apartment is due for cleaning on the twenty-second, so it has been since early October with this misery. I hear from all of you about these places such as Sprouts, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and others that we don't have here and while they would be nice, I'm glad we don't have them. We did have Trader Joe's, but it went broke or pulled out some years ago. There is only about 100,000 in population here so we would be overgrown with stores and franchises.

MaryAnn, I went and looked up Annie and Kendrick's picture. He looks nothing at all in appearance to Farrah, but they share the same expression. Also, Annie was nothing at all as I had pictured her, but then that is the way when you see someone you had only thought of before. She looks as if she is enjoying her life.

I used to write frequently and walk for miles enjoying the weather and nature. But my arthritis put paid to my handwriting and I frequently have to interpret it for others. My hearing has declined and my fall on black ice in February 2014 put paid to my long walks so I am slowly reinventing myself.

I rarely use Facebook anymore and had to reopen my account as I had let it lapse. Lately, I just don't' go to the places I used to on the Internet or do much other than Seniors and Friends and my online photography and PSP classes and tutorials. I've become depressed with all that's going on here and the hives I had and psoriasis on top of that. I feel I need a good long stretch where no one anywhere has demands on my time, but it doesn't look to be happening soon.

Mary Ann, I was able to see the picture of Kendrick and Annie. 

Kenrick is beautiful.

Like Patricia, Annie was not what I had pictured her, either. She sure is a pretty young lady. 

Joy

I think (not knowing the facts , of course),  that what they are doing in your apartment complex is criminal... 

Are other people getting sick from it?

Perhaps things will change when this is over, after the holidays.     

Til then,  I wish you the best.
Sandy

Sandy, it is simply stress from all the anxiety. The company paid to have all 196 apartments sprayed a total of three times separated by a week each and scuttlebutt is that it was a thousand per. All I know is that I never had bugs before barring a stray fly or mosquito in the summer and while I never actually saw one of the bugs, others did and in apartments all around me. I purchased zipped vinyl covers for both mattresses and pillow as well as a fabric steamer because the flier said the extreme heat kills the bugs and so does its packaging. I am paying for a thorough cleaning before putting everything back. I don't know what other tenants are doing.

Evidently, these bugs are everywhere and you are not supposed to bring in second-hand furniture or rentable furniture and second-hand clothing is not a good idea. I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop in a rent increase or other austerity company measure. At any rate, I've gotten quite an education!

Still all white here, no melting  at all.  We are in the 20's so doubt it will  be melting anytime soon.

Joan, you might get a kick out of this. My daily trivia question was what toy was banned from all milatary bases in 1999?

Answer: The NSA once banned Furbies as a threat to national security. The fluffy, bug-eyed toy was banned because its ability to record and reply speech made it a potential security risk. The National Security Agency feared that they would listen in on classified conversations. In 1999, the NSA issued a memo banning them from its offices in Fort Meade. Because the commercials advertised Furbies as "learning" English over time, the folks in charge believed that Furbies contained an internal recording device, and they feared the toys would spill secrets in their cutesy voices. According to a 1999 BBC News article, anyone who came across a Furby on NSA premises was instructed to "contact their Staff Security Office for guidance."

I’m listening to Music Choice on TV and I have it set to Christmas music.  There are all sorts of singers represented.  Of course, I prefer the Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra era singers but a lot of younger singers are played too.  I wonder why the younger ones feel it necessary to scream the lyrics.  Not all, but many do that.  It is good to have that music on because I don’t have to watch the screen.  As it is, I watched some shows this morning and did not get dressed until noon!

I am glad some of you were able to see Kendrick and Annie.  I am not on Facebook so I only saw the picture of Kendrick that Tom showed me.  I don’t know that Kendrick scolds me, but he is persistent when he wants something and I don’t get out of my chair immediately. 

Most of our family is well endowed, especially as we got older.  I’m not too bad, but Norm was heavy, as are Tom and Terry.  Tom’s son is getting heavy but Annie is thin.  She eats good and she did not when she was young; I could get her to eat mac and cheese, but she took only bites of most anything else.  I don’t want to say we are fat because some of us are not, we just are not thin.  Annie and her friend are going to Florida Wednesday. 

It has been snowing lightly all morning so Tom is out driving for Uber again.  I have things I need for him to do so I wish he’d get home, but he is making good money and that is his priority.

Joy, I often tell Kendrick he is a Pretty Boy, but I don’t think boys like to be called “pretty”, so now I try to tell him that he’s handsome!

Mary Ann

Angel, I did know this.  Thought it was funny at the time, actually still kind of funny when you think about it.

Larry, I found the letter from the hospital and they called what I had an Echocardiogram. 

It is a sonogram or ultra sound.

Mary Ann

Here you go MaryAnn. You can save it to your computer and others can see him too.

[attachimg=1]

I thought it was funny, Joan!

Thanks, Patricia, I did copy it.  I do have a few pictures of him but I don't know how to put them here and I'm not going to learn!

As you can see, he is a big cat.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, Kendrick is a beautiful cat. To day Taffy, was interested in watching me wrap the Christmas gifts.

He looks so much bigger in that photo. There are any oh the cat if you go further int her face book.
Maryann. Now y you can just bring up the Facebook site and type in Annie's name she uses and can see all her postings going back a long time. She seems to be getting quite a lot of travel in. You just can't write any thing in there.

It is ironic that his size, coloring, and sex do not match with Farrah, MaryAnn, but the position of the head, expression and the entirety of it matches Farrah; just substituting gray for orange.

Farrah is small but stocky, but not overweight, with big feet. She is very verbal and very confident.

Gloria, Farrah really likes ribbons and feathers too. I always make sure I put them away securely after playtime.

Jeanne, Kendrick is a big cat.  I have never measured him because he wouldn't lie still that long, but I believe if he were to stretch out on the floor with his front legs and tail stretched as far as possible, he would be four feet long..  Tom, in Indy, has a cat that I think is about 1/4 the size of Kendrick.

Annie takes a picture of Kendrick nearly every time she is here for a few minutes.  He is used to her coming here so  he doesn't run downstairs, but if any stranger comes in, he disappears.   

Mary Ann

Hi everyone on an overcast morning.  It appears we may have had a little rain during the night.  We should get to about 65 degrees this afternoon.  I did get to Sunday School and Church but Pat wasn't feeling up to attending.  North Augusta was having it's Christmas Parade yesterday afternoon so I had to find an alternative way to get home as the main road in front of the church was blocked.  Fortunately, I have now lived here long enough to know what to do and had no problem getting home.  I didn't get anything for our lunch yesterday and we just ate what we had at home. 

From Wednesday through Saturday evenings last week our church had an event for the community called "Return to Bethlehem".  We did not attend but yesterday as I got to church I drove through the little village that the church sets up and it was most impressive with about 15 different type houses, businesses, the court of Herod, and the Inn set up. There was a cast of people representing the towns people and tradesmen of the small village, all in costume.  It took several hundred people to build the sets, setup the racks of costumes and all the other particulars necessary to put on a production like this.  They even had a live camel and perhaps some other livestock.  They announced that there was an attendance of 4,456 people who attended.  There was no cost.  Our church has been doing this for a number of years and during this time over 48,000 people have attended. 

The only thing on my schedule today is to attend my noon meeting.  This morning I need to shred some cheese and cut up some green peppers so they are available for Pat's scrambled eggs for breakfast over the next few days. 

Mary Ann, if I want anyone to be able to read my handwriting I also usually print.  It is bad when a person can't read their own writing and that happens to me on occasion.  I also wonder why singers today need to scream lyrics as some have very nice voices.  I also hate commercials that have loud blaring music in them.  It gets them muted in our household.  Like you I am just not thin.  I have had the Echo cardiogram several times over the years.   

MarsGal, sure hope you didn't get ice.  The older I get the more concerned I become about falling for myself or anyone else. 

Patricia, it sounds like Farrah thinks you need to get your act together or her benefit.    Please take good care of yourself as that has to be your first priority.  Interesting information about Furby's and the NSA.  Something tells me that everything is perfectly safe with Joan.  Thanks for posting the picture of Mary Ann's cat. 

deAngel, did Taffy want to get in there and help you wrap the presents?

More snow here.  Not much more to say on that. 

I am not that happy a person  this morning. Darn Car will not start.  my fault as I didn't drive it for 3 days in this freezing weather. Need to finish getting it charged up and drive out over the Interstate for awhile. Hate this weather. Snow has gone and all the freezing rain but still so cold.  Say Chicago got 15 inches of snow . That goodness we didn't get that.  Think I will go and see if my battery is holding a good charge. It was new a few months ago but doesn't help if one doesn't run it.

Got a lot of running around to do today so that may help it. Looks like the sun trying to come through. Will go full gas tank up. Gheck grocery store. Library.
I am still not handling those new glasses. I think I will just go back to having them as Reading glasses. Forget about leaving them on. I never get head aches but if I keep these glasses on I can feel one coming on.  The made them twice.   My distance sight is O.K. Get bigger frames. Not going to pay the $300 again though.
My next Eye Appointment is Feb. 3. I will check the problem out with my Eye Doctor. See if this new Prescription is right.

Larry, for two or three years at our church we had a pageant (for lack of a better word) Going to Jerusalem.  I think it was during the tenure of one of our Interim Ministers.  It was in the church and we waited in the sanctuary until our name was called, then we were guided through Jerusalem.  Our Interim Minister was Myron Jacob Kaufman and he was the Jewish Rabbi.  However, he was not Jewish, but Dutch.  He was a great Interim, one of the best we’ve had.  There were several booths in the display and someone was there to tell about where we were.  I nearly fell down a step and one of the “soldiers” caught me.  In later years, I counted the Sunday collection with him.  We haven’t had anything comparable since; maybe that would help boost attendance!  Ha!

Jeanne, I do have a garage and kept my car in it when not driving.  After I retired, it was not unusual for me to go at least a week without driving it regardless of the weather.  Tom had been parking his car outside the garage while the weather was good.  His snow tires that came with his car (used) took up some of the floor space.  But last week having snow, he and Annie moved things in the garage and he took some appliances that were no longer being used to some place, he now has enough room in the garage to put the car in it. 

I finally got my labels for Christmas cards from Tom (he had to print them because my printer and computer are not compatible) and I think he printed last year’s list.  I know I gave him a list with one friend on it and the one Tom printed had her husband included; the husband died earlier this year.  I think I can hand write that one card and another that was wrong, I’ll send a Jacquie Lawson card.  The labels are on the envelopes and I have to sign the cards and include messages in some.  I should be finished in time for the mail tomorrow.

Tom and I decided we’d each buy a stroller for the expected twins.  Someone told Alicia that if you buy two, there is a discount and I like that idea.  Strollers are not inexpensive!  I hope to have something for all the future children at Christmastime.  It does help that we know the sexes.

Mary Ann

Not many postings in S&F this morning, so I just looked at the "Users Online", at the bottom of the Forum page.  I was surprised to see 83 Guests, and only 11 members!  Also the usual "Spiders", "Yahoo", "Google". (I have no idea what that means or who those people are?)  Anyway, I  wonder why all of these 83 people who are reading our messages, don't want to become members of  S&F and join in the conversations?  Also, there are members listed every day on "Users Online", who have never posted a message?  I wish they would! 

Mary Ann - Your church pageant, Going to Jerusalem, sounds like a nice holiday event.  I don't think I've heard of anything like that in any of our churches here?   

The Episcopal Church here is more oriented toward children during this season other than Christmas Eve services. We get all the children's pageants, musical programs and children's choir. We also have a service in the Athabascan or Gwit'in language that is always enjoyed and we always learn something. We also one year, learned the Lord's Prayer in sign language from a deaf woman. On Christmas Eve services, there are reindeer in the parking lot for everyone to enjoy.

Marilyne,  I may be listed as one of the "Users on line".  I chose not to have my name show when I'm on-line because I like to read some of the folders but would have nothing to contribute to the conversation. 

I think we all need to remember that Just Anyone can come in and read what we've posted.  It worries me when personal information  is shared in a post - particularly phone numbers and/or addresses.  That's the purpose of Messages.

Callie - Like you, I'm also one of those who chooses to not have my name showing on the Users Online.  What I was "complaining" about, was wondering about the 83 unregistered people who just come in and read and never join, and the registered people who do join S&F, but have NEVER posted a message?  It makes me sad to see so few people posting.  Also, seems like that when an active member leaves, (for whatever reason), they never return.

The Google or Yahoo spiders are a way for their search engines to keep track and probably to tailor their adverts to you. I agree that anyone can come in and pick up personal information. I know I am bad at that in some ways but don't leave sensitive info out as guests could be anyone, anywhere. I also browse privately and am not listed as a user on line or guest.

IMHO, I think many boards such as this one are losing out to the more "social media" ones like Facebook or Twitter or whichever the new ones are. Also, we seem, for whatever reason to be losing posters from outside the US. We at one time had quite a varied selection of folks from Holland, France, England. New Zealand and Australia and Germany.

Last night I closed up shop about 10:30 pm EST (my time zone) and signed on about 6:30 am EST this morning.  I was surprised to see only three folders open and only one was one I would visit.  I was surprised but I will say there were several posts in the one folder I read.  I usually have about 12 folders to read, however, there are many among those that I don't read - ever  It is a contrast to the many folders we had at one time when I took me nearly an hour to read everything (and join in) and now I can finish is 15 minutes.  There probably are half a dozen folders I post in, maybe a couple more, but not nearly as many as before.  This is not a complaint against Pat's efforts to keep this S&F going because I know it isn't easy.  Especially when she has not been well.

Mary Ann

Interesting to learn a little more about the usage in here. I saw an Animals folder the other day, but it seems to be empty, and I couldn't see a way to start a conversation.

Now I've seen everything! A motorized picnic table for those who have everything....

Many of the posters, Sasha, have left the site for Facebook, lost their animals or any number of reasons. You could try posting this in the Soda Shoppe where some of the former animal posters hang out.


https://biggeekdad.com/2015/07/motorized-picnic-table/#.VbY1Oh9LJmE.facebook